30 Lessons After 30 Years of Pastoring

In June 1996, I began pastoral ministry at the Bible Methodist Church in Cordova, Alabama. My heart was full of zeal, my head was full of what I had learned in Bible school, and I had far more confidence in my own abilities than I realized at the time. I was just 23 years of age and had so much to learn. Thirty years later, I have preached thousands of sermons, stood beside hospital beds, conducted weddings and funerals, administered the sacraments, raised three children, married two of them off, became a grandfather, celebrated many victories, endured some disappointments, and watched God work in ways I never could have imagined.

The years have taught me many things. Some lessons came through joy and blessing; others were learned through mistakes, hardships, and seasons of waiting. Looking back, I am more convinced than ever that God is faithful, his Word is true, and his grace is sufficient. 

Here are thirty lessons I’ve learned after thirty years of pastoral ministry.

1. God is more faithful than I ever imagined.
2. It’s the Word of God that changes lives.
3. Prayer accomplishes more than you think.
4. The people who demand the most often serve the least. 
5. Before your devotional life becomes a delight, it must first become a habit of discipline.
6. The greatest sermons are often lived before and after they are preached.
7. Character matters more than charisma; integrity is more important than gifts. 
8. A pastor cannot lead others where he is unwilling to go himself.
9. The presence of God cannot be manufactured, but it can be sought.
10. The Church belongs to Christ, not the pastor; I am replaceable, the Church is not. 
11. Patience is one of the most important leadership skills.
12. God often works slowly, but he always works certainly (Mark 4:26–29).
13. Not every criticism deserves an answer.
14. Some lessons can only be learned through suffering and brokenness. 
15. The people who complain the most about the church being unfriendly are often the last ones there and the first ones out the door. 
16. Being home at 5 p.m. to help your wife and be with your children is not a sacrifice of ministry, but a strengthening of it.
17. The most fruitful seasons often follow the hardest ones.
18. Who you marry matters more than you think. 
19. The best leaders are servants first.
20. Keep a short list of hurts, then let forgiveness burn it to ashes. Repeat if necessary. 
21. The Holy Spirit is a better shepherd than I am.
22. Pursue depth in ministry, and let God determine its breadth.
23. Small acts of obedience have eternal consequences.
24. Good preaching explains the text; great preaching shows how the text fits into God’s redemptive plan.
25. Your mistakes will humble you; your sense of humor will help you survive them.
26. Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.
27. The older you get, the more you will appreciate the wisdom of older saints. 
28. Success is measured by faithfulness, not numbers.
29. People are people wherever you go. 
30. Don’t put your confidence in what you do for Christ, but in what Christ has done for you.

The last point is key. After 30 years, I can truly say that my confidence is not in what I have done for Christ, but in what Christ has done for me. For “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Lk. 17:10).